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November 11th-17th is American Education Week, a week dedicated to celebrating public education. On Thursday, I was able to observe Aden and Alex’s morning class. When I walked in Alex noticed me right away. He looked suspicious; sort of like what’s she doing here? He was playing with play-doh, Ms. Katie at his side. Aden was working on puzzles with Ms. Debbie and didn’t notice me right away. When he finally did he instantly became my shadow.

Circle time was my favorite to observe. I was surprised at how well both of them participated in the hello song and introductions. Ms. Katie calls each child up one-by-one and asks a series of questions including “what’s your name? “are you a boy or a girl?” “what color is your shirt?” and “are you happy or sad?” So what if they don’t know if they’re a boy as long as they’re happy!

Around 10am, an announcement came over the intercom system, followed by the song “ABC, 123” by Michael Jackson. Flash mob! Here’s a clip: http://youtu.be/tpk6cl8C84A (Thank you Ms. Katie for letting me share!)

Another surprise came when Alex’s speech therapist Ms. Molly came to collect him for his session. He went with right along without any hesitation. In an earlier discussion with Ms. Molly, she informed me about a recent session in the lobby. The lobby is located near the music room. During Alex’s session he identified the sound of a violin. I knew Alex could identify a picture of a violin, but to identify it just by the sound, I found that to be pretty amazing. As a reward for Alex’s hard work Ms. Molly allowed him to hold a violin after his session. It’s all about finding motivators!

After circle time is centers: kitchen, transportation, arts and crafts. After centers is snack time and then it’s time to say good-bye.

I was worried how the boys would do with me in their class. I didn’t want to be a distraction or prevent them following their routine. It turned out to be a wonderful experience. I left feeling a sense of calm knowing my boys are in good hands and best of all, they’re making progress.